Police say children found in home with meth lab

Thursday

Jan 17, 2008 at 6:40 PM

Stephanie TaylorStaff Writer

An online tip led narcotics investigators to a meth lab on 18th Street East where they said they found two children, who appeared to be unhurt, near the dangerous chemicals.Investigators arrested Talisha Karrol Thomas, 31, and Michael Wayne Rogers, 39, at their home in the 6000 block of 18th Street East at 11 a.m. Thursday. Each was held on a $60,000 bond and charged with manufacturing and posession of a controlled substanceSomeone had reported the pair through the Tuscaloosa Police Department’s anonymous tip page. “Without this tip, we would have had nothing to go on. This bust is particularly important because we shut down the lab and protected these innocent children,” Capt. Jeff Snyder, commander of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, said in a news release.Thomas and Rogers allegedly used the “one-pot method” combining materials for making meth in one container, Snyder said. The method is dangerous because pressure can build up and create an explosion.Investigators contacted the Alabama Department of Human Resources to investigate possible child endangerment charges against the couple. The results of forensic analysis could lead investigators to charge them with trafficking, depending on the amount of materials confiscated.